I totally disagree. Putin was a member of the communist party elite in Russia, and a trained member of its secret police. He is ruthless. He was a member of a totalitarian ideological elite. He still believes in ruling by a ruthless dictatorial elite, this time of corrupt oligarchs of which he is the leader.

Russia has always had an inferiority complex and feels that it is underestimate and slighted by the rest of the civilized world. It feels that it has to prove itself through an expansionist acquisition of territory and influence. He will always seek to cause problems for the west just to prove how big he is. He can NEVER b trusted.